Rev. David Holwick ZM
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 20, 2016
Isaiah 60:15-22
Matthew 24:37-42
LEFT BEHIND
I. What will it take to make us great again?
A. Isaiah's future vision.
1) Today's passage describes what Christians call the
Millennium.
2) Prosperity abounds, people live in peace, their nation
is exalted - and God is at the center.
3) American believers would wish the same for their own
country but most think we are far from it.
4) Can greatness return to us?
a) Have we ever really had it?
B. The election that defied all predictions.
1) It will be talked about for years to come.
2) One candidate fought the political establishment, raised
less money than his opponent, had little on-the-ground
organization, spent more on giveaway hats than polling,
insulted large groups of people, and won anyway.
3) Most agree he won by tapping into the dissatisfaction so
many feel about the country and their own lives.
a) The biggest factor was working-class whites.
b) I heard multiple commentators refer to them as those
who have been "left behind."
1> I actually heard the phrase used three times in
one broadcast.
c) These are the people whose jobs have disappeared,
whose savings are gone, who see the world taking
advantage of us.
4) An example from a small Ohio town.
Atul Gawande talks about a family friend named Jim Young.
Jim spent 35 years at a local animal-feed factory.
He eventually became a manager earning $13 an hour.
His company was bought by conglomerates and the older staff,
including Jim, were let go.
He lost his health care and pension.
Jim worked odd jobs until he got his Social Security.
Jim's son had spina bifida and died at the age of 33.
His daughter is in her 40s, works at Walmart, and still
lives in his house.
Another daughter married a maintenance man and is trying
to raise three kids.
Jim lives in a world that doesn't seem to care whether he
and his family make it or not.
He is among the left behind.
[1]
C. No one wants to be left behind.
1) Everyone wants the good things that others possess.
2) Not just material things, but the deeper things in life too.
3) What can we do about it?
II. The Bible knows these people.
A. At times most of the whole nation was "left behind."
1) When the Babylonians conquered Israel in 587 B.C., the
elite were exiled to distant lands.
2) Only the poorest people were left behind to survive
on the dregs of the country. 2 Kings 25:12
3) They had no temple, no king, no priesthood, but they
became very devoted to God.
B. God has a special love for those who are on the fringes.
1) The poor, foreigners, people who are outcasts because
of disease or social rejection are special to the Lord.
2) Jesus spent much of his time ministering to them.
a) In the verses which follow today's passage, the Messiah
says he has been chosen to preach good news to the
poor, bind up the brokenhearted and freedom for
prisoners.
b) Jesus applied those verses to his own ministry.
c) He doesn't want to leave anyone behind.
III. Those left behind can be dangerous.
A. They feel they have nothing to lose.
1) At first they may think that nothing can change for them,
that the only reasonable option is despair.
2) But after they keep plugging along and surviving by the
skin of their teeth, they become hardened.
3) And then someone may give them hope that change can happen.
B. Revolutions occur when people believe change is possible.
1) The French Revolution did not occur when the country was
filled with poverty.
2) It happened when many people were becoming rich.
a) The upper class was thriving, and the poorest people
resented it.
b) The expectations of the poor had been raised and they
wanted the barriers to prosperity to be removed.
c) The elite resisted and were swept away by the mobs.
IV. If you are left behind you can do something about it.
A. Politics is one avenue.
1) In the last two elections, the groups that have poured the
most money into politics have made little difference.
2) Apparently citizens cannot be "bought" as easily as some
had feared.
3) We can vote for candidates who can change the country,
but there are no guarantees, and I don't care who the
politician is.
B. We can try to change our situation in life.
1) It is probably foolish to expect the government to do it
for us.
2) We have to take charge of our lives.
a) I know some of you have reinvented yourselves several
times.
b) You try, you fall down, you try again.
c) And eventually you succeed.
3) We can get friends to help us.
a) Churches can help along these lines.
b) I was called this week by a man in need.
He and his wife have been kicked out of their
apartment.
Wife is on oxygen, so they are staying (illegally) with
his elderly dad.
Town welfare office told him to call churches.
Through our deacons fund we helped him out.
c) Churches can also help through our network of believing
friends.
1> Some here have helped others find jobs, housing,
and encouragement.
2> God always seems to provide a way, if you believe.
C. We can find contentment where we are.
1) Material change is not always a good thing.
a) Just ask people who win big lottery tickets.
b) Rich people have plenty of trouble too.
2) The key to Thanksgiving is being grateful for what you have.
a) Family trumps stuff.
A survey done this year by a Christian organization
gave people ten options on what they would be
thankful for.
The big winner was family.
Health, personal freedom and friends were on the next
tier.
Wealth and achievements were much farther down the list.
The executive director of the research firm concluded,
"The blessings that matter most are the ones money
can't buy."
It was interesting to me that people under 25 gave high
thankfulness ratings to fun experiences and their
own achievements.
Even for them, being thankful for their family beat all
the rest.
#65363
b) Above all, be thankful you know God.
1> Many people don't rate this highly, but you should.
V. The worst place to be left behind.
A. Our current economy is peaches and cream compared to this.
1) The Bible speaks of a future period of turmoil on the earth
called the Great Tribulation.
2) The Old Testament prophets predicted it and Jesus gave even
more details, as does Paul and the book of Revelation.
3) It took two Americans to make it a literary sensation.
a) Twenty years ago, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins came out
with a series of books called "Left Behind."
1> The 17 books sold more than 65 million copies.
2> Many of them made it to #1 on the New York Times
bestseller list.
b) Their fiction describes something very real in the Bible.
B. It will be a terrible time.
1) There will be natural disasters and political upheaval.
a) Vast numbers of people will die.
b) The world will be taken over by a figure known as the
Antichrist.
c) He will try to force everyone to worship Satan.
d) There will be only two choices: Satan or God.
1> Everyone will have to choose.
2) At a critical time, God will make HIS choice.
Turn with me to Matthew 24, starting with verse 37:
"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the
coming of the Son of Man.
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the
day Noah entered the ark;
and they knew nothing about what would happen until the
flood came and took them all away.
"That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the
other left.
Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be
taken and the other left."
a) This is where the Bible theme of being "left behind"
originated.
b) It is somewhat ambiguous - are the man and woman being
taken away for judgment, or salvation?
c) I think it is clarified earlier in verse 31, where the
angels gather the elect after a trumpet call.
1> Therefore those who are taken are those who are
truly saved, or "born again."
2> The event that takes them up is known as the Rapture.
3> Those left behind face eternity without God.
C. The premise of the book has a problem for me.
1) The "Left Behind" series assumes the Rapture takes place
before the Great Tribulation starts.
2) Those who are not raptured face seven years of the
Antichrist, while the real Christians relax in heaven.
a) It is the most popular view with Evangelical Christians.
1> It is easy to see why - they will escape all the
suffering that will come on the world.
b) But it is not the only view, and it is not mine.
1> I think it is clear from verses 30-31 that the
Rapture happens just before Jesus returns.
2> Everyone alive at the beginning of the Tribulation
will have to endure it, including Christians.
3> This may take away some of the appeal of the Rapture
but the essential truth remains - believing in
Jesus is better than ignoring him.
c) We don't believe in Jesus because he eliminates all the
trouble in our lives - we believe in him because he
really is the Son of God.
1> As Paul said in Acts 14:22, "We must go through
many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."
VI. Would you be left behind?
Ron Hutchcraft's youth group had just been out whitewater
rafting all day.
They asked him wrap up the day with an inspirational talk.
And when he arrived at the rafting facility, he was expecting
to see just the youth group.
As it turned out, this recreational company had 1,500 people
on the river that day from many different groups.
That night they had a wonderful get-together under the trees.
Ron didn't know that one girl at the back had not planned to
be there at all.
She was a Girl Scout who had been there for the day with her
troop.
They had somehow gone off and left her all alone.
She saw this group of teenagers meeting, so she wandered over
to check it out.
She stayed ... and she listened ... and at the end, she was
one of the young people who indicated they wanted to begin
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
#19665
1) The "Left Behind" series are just fictional books.
2) The story of how Jesus can change your life is not fiction
at all, but real and available to you right now.
3) The future God will have for you will be amazing.
a) As Isaiah 60 describes it, it will be a time of plenty
and peace and joy.
b) And God will be at the center of it.
c) He wants you to be there, too.
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
1. "Dispatches: Aftermath - Responses to the election of Donald Trump.
Health of the Nation," by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker magazine,
November 21, 2016, page 50.
#19665 “Getting Left To Get Found,” Ron Hutchcraft, A Word With You by
Ron Hutchcraft #3804, August 9, 2001.
#65363 “Survey On What Americans Are Thankful For,” by Bob Smietana,
Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org, November 15, 2016.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easy CHM and documentation editor